Predicting 2018's Box Office Hits

If people are searching for something in Google, it stands to reason that they’re interested in the finding out more information.

But can search volumes help us to predict which films will be a box office smash? We’ve taken a look at the search figures around 2018’s movie releases to find out. Only time will tell if our prophesies come true, but as you’ll see, our list includes a few surprises.

Halloween (2018)

A well-known name on the list, 2018’s Halloween, will feature a final showdown between Michael Myers and Jamie Lee-Curtis’ character, Laurie Strode. Released next Halloween, it’s garnered more than 214,000 searches already and we envisage the buzz slowly starting to increase over the coming year. Halloween’s success will rely on the fans who love the series and judging by the search volumes, it should be a box office success.

The Jungle Book

2018 will see the release of ANOTHER live action Jungle Book, but this time from a different studio. Warner Brothers has roped in Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch and Cate Blanchett for this adaptation. The film will be released next October and has so far totalled 85,000 searches but this could be attributed to the confusion which surrounds it. Disney’s version was only released in 2016 and made more than $900 million worldwide so it seems unlikely that the same film will achieve equal levels of success so soon.

Winchester

The first original name on our list, Winchester, has so far been searched for 71,000 times. Based on the legend of Sarah Winchester, the film focuses on the eponymous character who believes she is haunted by the souls of those who died at the hands of a Winchester firearm. The supernatural thriller will be released in March, not Halloween like a lot of scary films, and so could stand out from the other films coming out around that time and perform favourably at the box office.

Barbie

Based on the popular children’s toy, Barbie follows the story of a doll living in ‘Barbieland’ who is expelled for not being perfect enough. This live action attracted a lot of attention when Amy Schumer was cast in the role but subsequently pulled out. This could go some way to explaining the 52,000 searches. It’s not clear yet if this is a kid’s film and if it isn’t, the box office might not be that forgiving.

Tomb Raider

Another familiar name, this Tomb Raider is more of a reboot than a remake. With Alicia Vikander in the role of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider has already generated 49,000 searches. Released in March, it’ll undoubtedly attract fans of the franchise eager to see how Vikander takes over from Angelina Jolie, cementing its success.

Black Panther

Marvel is an expert when it comes to building hype so it’s surprising to see that Black Panther is outside the top five, with 46,000 searches. Released in February 2018, it immediately follows the events of Captain America: Civil War. Marvel’s standards of success are somewhat different to your average film though. The Incredible Hulk was considered a flop and still made a worldwide total of $263,427,551 against a $150 million budget. Given the production company’s huge, persistent fan-base, Black Panther will still be a box office hit but how will it fare against Marvel’s biggest blockbusters?

Deadpool 2

The first Deadpool was a fantastic success, grossing $783.1 million at the box office. Another film from Marvel, released as a summer blockbuster, Deadpool 2 has been searched for 30,000 times. The first instalment broke records for the highest box office opening weekend for an R rated film. Will the second one be as successful? Search volumes indicate that fans are hungry for any update on the sequel so it’s likely they’ll flock to the box office with the same intensity.

Slender Man

Slender Man is based on the urban legend and that’s about as much as is known about it at the moment. However, the curiosity surrounding it has generated 29,000 searches as horror fans try to puzzle out what the film will be about. It’s possible these volumes could be related to the legend itself but as the film has been written by Slender Man’s creator, buzz might be building on different parts of the internet.

Alpha

Alpha tells the story of a young caveman forging a friendship with a wolf as he tries to find his way home after a hunting trip goes wrong. It’s an intense survival story that has caused curiosity and prompted 27,000 searches. Survival films tend to do well at the box office with 2015’s The Revenant making $533 million and earning Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar.

Ready Player One

Based on a novel of the same name, Ready Player One follows the story of Wade Watts, an Easter egg and fortune hunter in a virtual reality game. The book was a New York Times bestseller and interest is starting to build for the film’s release in March. Ready Player One has had a similar number of searches as Alpha but it’s geared towards the young adult audience. Some of the biggest franchises come from the young adult genre; The Hunger Games made $1.45bn and Harry Potter pocketed $6.5bn. So, will Ready Player One outperform Alpha or will it be a flash in the pan?

If you can't wait for these blockbusters, have a look at www.leedsfilmcity.com to check out the films you can still see for the Leeds International Film Festival.

What do you think of our predictions? Will these films pull in the big bucks at the box office? Let us know in the comments!